Yesterday I read through my post here from last year around New Years resolutions. It is so interesting for me to think about how much my mindset has shifted in a year. Some of the tools and ways I did things just don’t seem to apply anymore. SMART goals and vision boards just weren’t feeling like the way to go about the new year for me this year. I listened to a youtube video by Kyle Cease last night that blew my mind and feels like exactly the way I want to approach the new year and any kind of habit change too actually.
The idea is to let yourself be pulled by the future version of yourself that already has this new habit or lives this way, rather than pushing against the past version of you that still practices the old habit. We all have created an identity for ourselves based on how we have acted and lived up until now. We have an idea that eating better is hard, spending differently is hard, quitting wasting hours on facebook is hard, etc. and we have a lot of practiced history to support that. He proposes that we look at it from the future version of us that already lives the new way we want to. Instead of beating the drum about how it’s hard to change and about all the times we’ve tried to change and failed, now we practice thinking about it as if we already live that way. Take a little bit of time and imagine yourself as already being the person who acts and thinks the new way and begin to identify with that version of yourself.
He spoke mostly about it in terms of a new way of eating that he is aiming to embody, but it applies to all areas of life. When I sat to write on the idea all sorts of visions of my highest self came out in relation to money, relationships, confidence, etc. Some of the money ones that came out on paper for me are:
What would happen if I didn’t spend emotionally?
How would the world be better if I were filthy rich?
How does my best self feel about money?
What if my dreams were supported and celebrated?
How would I live if I weren’t afraid of failure?
What if my book sells millions?
I wrote about five pages of these on all areas of my life and it felt really fun and exciting to think about. I also put it in practice this morning when I would normally check facebook first thing. Instead today I interrupted that pattern with a ‘what would happen if I didn’t check facebook all day? What happened immediately was I laid the phone down. Not from being chastised for not doing my new habit well enough, but from an empowered, excited place of possibility.
If you think about the concept it really makes a whole lot of sense. If you tell yourself not to eat a cookie, suddenly all you can think about is cookies. It takes monumental self discipline to maintain that long term and even if you do, you’re often just missing cookies for a whole lot more time than is necessary. If you can switch it to picturing yourself healthy and energetic instead it’s a whole different ball game. One that you can easily win. Habit changes get to be fun and easy instead of a self-shaming exercise.
I only started last night, but I already feel really excited about it. While I was writing I had an image of me pop in my mind. I was somewhere down south in my second home. This home had a beautiful solarium with two walls of bookshelves and I was wearing a silk robe and drinking lemonade while reading a book. If there was ever a picture of me living my best life, that is it. I actually laughed out loud because it is such a representation of how my best self would live. Even more than what I was doing, I felt the sense of self-satisfaction and mental freedom she felt to do what she loved without worrying about what anyone else would think. The urge to do anything contrary to that vision of me doesn’t even enter in my mind either right now which is exactly the point. While I’m feeling all this possibility and freshness of energy, I don’t have any desire to sit and scroll facebook or to contemplate what someone might think about the things I write. It is really fun to think about that image and how I can bring more of how she feels and acts into my day to day practices and self-talk. Try this one out and let me know how it goes!
Lots of love
Dawn
Tax Wise 